Whitefish High School is hosting this week’s Northwestern A divisional basketball tournaments, Feb. 26-28.
On the boys side, defending state champ Columbia Falls is the top team in the division with a 15-3 overall record. The Wildcats were a perfect 8-0 in conference this season. The team, which is chasing its seventh consecutive division crown, earned a first-round bye and plays its first game at 3 p.m., Friday. Columbia Falls will play the winner of Frenchtown (7-11) and Libby (2-16), which tip off at 6 p.m., Thursday.
Whitefish (8-10) and Polson (8-10) also earned byes and play each other at 4:30 p.m., Friday.
The divisional championship game is at 6 p.m., Saturday.
The Class A boys state tournament is March 12-14 in Bozeman.
Ty Morgan, a senior for Columbia Falls, leads the division in scoring with 19.28 points per game on average. Frenchtown’s Bridger Truett is averaging 19 ppg. Polson’s Matthew Rensvold is averaging 13 ppg and Columbia Falls’ Grant Wallace is averaging 12.39 ppg.
In the girls bracket, Columbia Falls (17-1) is the top seed with a first-round bye. The Wildkats, the reigning division champs, play at 6 p.m., Friday, against the winner of Polson (2-16) and Whitefish (2-16), which tip off at 7:30 p.m., Thursday. Libby (9-9) plays Frenchtown (12-6) at 7:30 p.m., Friday.
The divisional championship game is at 7:30 p.m., Saturday.
The Class A girls state tournament is March 5-7 in Hamilton.
Ciera Finberg, a senior for Columbia Falls, is the top scorer in the division, averaging 13.56 points per game. Teammate Winter Kemppainen is next at 11 ppg.